Do you think school books should be replaced with tablets nowadays?

@grkelly (1206)
Malta
January 24, 2013 2:07pm CST
I was just listening to some news and it seems that many countries are adopting a policy where students, from as young as age 6 are given tablets to replace some of their schoolbooks. I tend to agree with this as kids can have much lighter schoolbags instead of carrying many books. Besides they will get more acquainted with gadgets, computers, software and so on, which are very important in this day and age. However, there are so many negative points worth noting. 1. If the child knows how to take proper care of the tablet, 2. If the child does not damage the tablet by simply throwing the bag haphazardly or pressing buttons wrongly, after all tablets are delicate items, 3. If it is a feasible and affordable option. 4. Children should still use 'paper' books as otherwise there is the risk of having them forgetting that there are real books, and they might fail to appreciate their look and feel in this digital age. What are your thoughts?
1 person likes this
18 responses
@Cutie18f (9551)
• Philippines
24 Jan 13
How I wish we can have that instead of bringing many heavy books and notebooks everyday. The tablet can also be used in storing information so there is no need of a notebook anymore. The problem here is that students won't learn how to write anymore.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
26 Jan 13
Yes I agree with you. School bags get really heavy even with a couple of books and so it is a good idea to have software with the same books on the tablet. However it is interesting to ponder on whether students would write enough as writing is a skill that needs to be mastered.
• United States
5 Feb 13
Writing is a big problem, were this comes up. I know, I had to ask for my son be be taught how to write in cursive. It's not required anymore.
@rose66 (378)
• China
26 Jan 13
i donot think so. although it more convinet and lighter than the books, but you know first of all, for a 6 or 7 years old child,it's really bad for their eyes to look at the screen everyday.this will increase the chances of myopia. and the second, for some children, they will have excuse to play computer games (usually parents won't allowed the child to go to the computer at home )
@gimong (124)
• Indonesia
1 Feb 13
I agree to your idea. The screen of tablet is like the desktop and television. What will happen if our children watch the screen for all day long? It will make glasses generation ( broken eyes of our children
@clocks123 (1225)
• United States
24 Jan 13
technology is constantly changing. there may be a day when tablets will replace books. i really love books. i am from the old school. i don't care for the kindles where you read books from it. there is nothing like a real book in my hand. this is what i am use to.
@Angelpink (4035)
• Philippines
27 Jan 13
I can relate with you Clocks coming from old school too ! Book is a different thing ! You can hold it , you can use it anytime of the day and can use it anywhere, unlike tablets that you need to have battery , a signal and an internet to keep it alive .
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
7 Mar 13
Hello Kelly. Maybe for students tablets AND OR laptops might work (I hate tablets and any touchscreen devices, and I am not the only one on this), but for youth or children it is a really bad idea. Consider kids play and beat each other at young ages and are likely to break many of them before learning to take care of them - and while we would protect trees with tablets substitution, overall with many tablets per kid we would actually create more pollution.
13 Feb 13
I have a 6 year old son who is in 1st grade and, what a pity for having to bring to school his bag full of books and notebooks everyday. I think this idea of making kids bring tablets to school would be a much better way for school children to adapt to the technology. In today's time and era, I bet, it would not only make our children's burden of carrying their school bags lighter but it will also prepare them for the advent of mobile technology in the years to come.
• Japan
23 Jan 16
As a teacher: NO. It's too easy to get distracted on an electronic device. Also, paper and pencil help the brain learn. For older kida (high school and up) I think it would be ok.
@gimong (124)
• Indonesia
1 Feb 13
It is awesome but it needs teacher to work hard prepare online lesson, and it is very expensive for a school which has not had hotspot
@else22 (4317)
• India
25 Jan 13
I have cleared my schools and colleges.My house is not sufficiently spacious for a family of seven members.Since I have been a book lover since my childhood and have a home library of my own in which the number of books goes on increasing each month,I lack space to keep them properly.So I would like to store all my books in a tablet.But it would take me a long time to forget the pleasure of touching a traditional book.When I buy a book of my choice,I go almost ecstatic.And it is the pleasure that can only be felt,not described. So far as the question of storing my kids' book in a tablet is concerned,I would like to support your suggestion.But in my country,India,I don't think it would be a feasible option.Most students here read in government schools that have been ill-eqipped and the government too does not care to address the requirements there.Students of these schools are from poor or lower middle class families.I don't think they can afford buying a tablet.
• Greece
7 Feb 13
The big advantage that springs immediately to my mind is that children will not be carrying heavy loads of books. Apparently many students have back problems caused by carrying excess weight in their school bags. This may well cause them problems with their backs in their adult life. Perhaps a special tablet should be designed especially for this purpose. Maybe Kindle could set one up in a very strong container that would withstand the rigours of school life with some anti theft modification.
@Shavkat (136864)
• Philippines
26 Jan 13
Being a student way back before, I enjoyed being one. I never regret to be a geek and learn things. If I have the chance, I will pursue another post graduate degree. In my opinion with the new gadgets today, they made the students lazy since they can access everything through net. But then, it is more easy to access for them. I cannot see children nor adult much in the library anymore.
@Angelpink (4035)
• Philippines
27 Jan 13
I love tablet for adult ones and not to young and growing kids. For young minds , books are more advisable than tablets because i want them to develop lots of values that been handed down from generation to generation. The value of being resourceful , one can hardly develop that in tablet . Why i say this so , because if for instance an assignment is not in your book , a child will find ways in looking for other resources just to be able to produce assignment . Also another thing is one don't have the book where assignment can be found , so kid will go out of her way to for her assignment. So in here she develop two things , value of resourcefulness and independence. Books don't make a student lazy , tabs do because everything is there , everything is being feed. The value of patience could hardly be develop if one got a tab because everything comes in just one touch unlike with books that it teaches a child to have patience while reading , flipping pages and writing down important matters .
@vernaC (1491)
• Romania
25 Jan 13
Since the world is changing, why not. This will be good for kids not to carry a big bag loaded with books and other school materials. They'd be able to keep up with the fast technology these days. I just wonder if time would come if writing would be replaced with typing since it's works are getting easier through technology.
• China
25 Jan 13
dear, tablets have been more and more popular recently and i have heared the news that in Beijing, some primary schools have started the experiment for asking the students to do homework on tablets. This is quite serious as it's related to the education for our next generation. I do not agree with this proposal. Tablets are electronic products and it may influnce the eyesight and also online network may bring bad info to them, it's not good for them to use at an early age.
• India
5 Feb 13
I was just listening to some news and it seems that many countries are adopting a policy where students, from as young age 6 are given tablets to replace some of their school books.
• Philippines
24 Jan 13
I actually agree with this new policy or whatever you call it. It'd be much easier on the kids to go to school with a lighter bag compared to having lots of notebooks and heavy books inside their bags. However, as what you have listed down on the things to take note, there are negative effects to switching to tablets instead of regular books nowadays. The number one on my list to think of is that is it cost-efficient? I'm pertty sure tablets cost pretty much so we have to consider if the families are able to afford this new technology. We have a school here in our country which no longer accepts students who can't afford to buy tablets. Some parents were even made to sign a promisory note stating that if they are going to continue enrolling their kids to the school, they will have to come up with a tablet/s for their kid/s before classes starts. Second would be the ability or progress of the kid to read. I have read somewhere in the Internet that a study conducted shows that it will take you longer to read a book on an iPad or tablet compared to printed page. If kids are sent to school to learn, how will learning be more convenient if reading on tablets shows it's slower than on books. The experience of reading through printed page is still incomparable for me. I guess that's something that technilogy hasn't figured out yet how to make reading on tablets feel like reading a printed book still.
@Rainegurl (2156)
• Philippines
24 Jan 13
I agree that tablets are great and that its a good learning tool. I have my tablet everywhere I go and find very useful. However, I am skeptical about requiring it in school. My country is not ready for such implementation. Number one issue is, can all students have tablets? What about those parents who cannot afford to buy this gadget? Private schools might have their extra units for those who do not have one, but what about in public schools? Enough number of classrooms can hardly Another thing is the safety of the kids who carry tablets. There are recorded crimes committed against students carrying gadgets.
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
25 Jan 13
I still think that having the books instead of tablets are better. One thing more, it is a lot more straining to the eyes when using a tablet than a book.
@doroffee (4222)
• Hungary
24 Jan 13
I don't think it's a good idea. It would just make this kids addicted to electronics. Some of them may not be able to afford it. Okay, schools give them tablets. If they leave school, it would be taken away from the kids. But even the poorest kid would get used to it, and it would be really hard to get back into the habit of using paper books. Also, it's bad for the eye. Little kids could lose the tablet, or if some robbers got to know which school has these tablets, they would gang up to steal them from the little kids, who may not be strong enough to fight back. It can even be hard to learn how to use it.